Straight bar knitting machine



May 25, 1948. J. E. LYNAM ET AL 2,442,090

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MAQHINE I Filed April 25, 1946 6 ShetS-Sheet 1 y 1948. J. E. LYNAM, EI'AL 2,442,090

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 25, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1948. J. E. LYNAM ETAL 2,442,090

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed-April 25, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 \Y I I l I a \T I F/G. 3. 26

yak-2&7? M4 May 25, 1948. J. E. LYNAM ETAL STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 25, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet, 4

)AAJJUL May 25, 1948. J. E; LYNAM ETAL 1,442,090

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE.

Filed Aprgg 25, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 25, 1948. J. E. LYNAM EI'AL 2,

I STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 25, 1946 I 6 Sheets-Sheetfi lnventbnr by a Patented May 25, 1948 sures PATENT "OFFICE STRAIGHT BAR- KNITTING-MACHINE John Edward Lynam, Mapperley, and Patrick Gideon McCarthy, Whitwick, England, .assignto i l a C t Li liit dLmshbnrmieh Leice stershire, England Application April 25, 1946, Serial No.--6 64,9 24 "In- Great Britain March 20, 1945 Patent. or othertstraight bar knitting machine,

m chanism .ior converting ,a iv n d splac me in one direction vinto :a variable displacement in another direction, comprising a converter consistingyof track "members coniointly definin a tr k h n wo o f e an "p ef rabl a a l end an an bli o i edmiddle par oi ing them w i h track e re relat ve y adjustable ,to vary the offset between the two endpart tand, a fo low rfonen aeinesa d ra k, whereby relative .movement .between said followenand converter causing the follower to pass ;f rom.one. end part to the-other producesa relative displacement in a transverse .direction the amplitude of which is determined ,bysaid ad- Just nt- Ili conve ma .b dri n toan ow ollowe bein es rain d. aea nst1movemer t ,withithe QOnvertenbut other formsof .rela- .tive .movement between vthe converter 7 and the ol cw e a e W thin h op o th tinven i apply n this mec anism to carri drive "th ico v te l the ieior i -idr ven e er y w t a ons ant amp itud by th Couhie Q (draw mechanism and the vfollower ,will be connected to the carrier through a coupling that transmi thet n v rs d spla eme only.

These ,and other features .of ,the invention set out in the appended claims are incorporated in ,theconstruction thahwill nowbe, describedas an example. of the :applicationY-of the invention to th d aw vm.e'zh l i zr .o a Cn to aten 0 othe s ra h .ha tlm in vmachin e vin a ca rie .Wi a variabl am lit d of traverse, with reference to t he accompanying drawings in w ich Figure 1 is a diagram illustratingthe operation of the mechanism in a simple form;

Figure 2 is arear elevation of the relevant --portions of a straight bar knitting machine, illustr-ating a practical embodiment of the invention;

iFigure -3 .is v a view looking :in the direction of arrow A-in:iFi g.;r2-;

:Figure 4 is. anend elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2

Figure 5 and Figure .6 show certain racking mecha m;

Figure 7 and Figure 8 show details of the mechanism shownin Fig. 5;

,Figures Stand 10 showalternative methods of driving the converter, while Figure 11 isasectionalviewillustrating a detail of .thewmechanism shown in 10.

Turning ,now ,to .Fig. ,1 the converter therein illustrated is reciprocated horizontally with a constant amplitude (by appropriate .draw or Coulier mechanism) and consists of two track members .I, -2, defining upper and lower horizontal endtracks .3a, 3a, the member I having a do,wnwar dly inclined bottom track wall la and the member; anupwardly-inclined track wall 2a parallel to it so that between theseinclined walls :Ia, za there is formed an inclined middle ,track ,3!) :whichcommunicates between the two track ,ends v3a 3c. {Ilhe two ,track members l, 2 are adjustable vlengthwise of the middle track "3b rbetweenna positionin which the two end tracks 3a, 30 ,areialig-ned and positions in which-the two. end tracks are spaced apart toany required extent. A lozenge-shaped follower dis movable walongthe-track. Thereforein thefirstmentioned position of adjustment the follower .4 passes straight iromonerend track to-the other-without vertical displacement but, in all .other positions fadjustment of the track members h 2 it travels up ordownwthe inclined centre track 3?) in its movement from one end track to theother and is therefore displaced vertically to an extent depending upon the vadjustment .of the track ,members l 2. fIfhis vertical displacement is applied to driving a carrier horizontally and there- :fore the .converter provides .a means whereby the traverse of a carrier maybevaried, as required,

l fromnothing-upwards.

Any suitable coupling may -be interposed between the follo wer 4 and the carrier sohthat only the vertical displacement is communicated-to the latter as horizontal -movement. .For example the f ollower dmaybe connected to. avertical rack i g earingwitha pinionifi which gears with arack .on ,a carriervdrivingbar 1. If .the follower 4 is driven --to and iro-with constant amplitude by appropriate v draw mechanism, and the converter -is .s tationary, -then(the pinion 6 will travel horizontally with the :vertical rack iand is slidably lkey ed orsplined to a horizontal shaft which is connected to a -carrier driving bar ,1 by bevel gearing, a pinion, vand ;;1a rackron ,said bar. The

'members 2, 2 by means of shafts 25, 25

follower & is between the horizontal faces of both track members i, 2 are racked with the .selvedge stops, but in the case of a converter driving a plating carrier that traverses only part way with the main carrierias forone high heel part) one track member is racked with a selvedge stop and the other with a graduating stop.

The application of the invention to driving a a l pair of splicing carriers such as those employed 1 for the high heel splicings, and for splicing the marginal parts of a French foot, in the production I I of a fully fashioned stocking blank is illustrated inFigs. 2 to 11.

each of these carriers must travel in advance of' i the slur cock and in the required relation to the 7 .main carrier that travels completely. across the blank,'one of them must complete its travel before the other'starts in each draw. Therefore .each carrier hasits own converter of the general construction shownvin Fig; In Fig. 2, the track 7 members of these two converters are therefore ditions will be reversed and bar 5 will reach its highest position and then remain stationary while bar 5 will commence to' travel in aidownward direction. Finally, as the slipper i5 reaches the right hand end of its movement both bars 5,'5

' will become stationary.

' It will now be appreciated that by suitably adjusting the track members i, 2, l 2 the length of the movement of bars '5, 55 can be varied as required. from' a point at which no movement It will be appreciated thatrwhile numbered 1, 2 and l ,j2 and the followers are numberedfi and 4 The mechanism is preferablysituated at the'rearjof the machine where it can conveniently be mounted on the frame .member I2 as shown in Fig. 2. ,A fiired dovetailed bar l3is carried by brackets It, Mlfastened to frame member i 2 and on this runs a corresponding slipper l5 carrying the adjustable track memhers, Li and i 2 of the two converters., These track members are screwed on to auxiliary dovetailbars |1,,l 8 and i I I8 which operate in corresponding inclined. sideways cut into the. face of the slipper 55. The movement of track members l, 2, i1,,,2 is effected by means of lead screws HI, .H and H3 these being supported at their takes place at all to, a, maximum determined by the size of the mechanism. Itshculd also be noted that the upper and lower limits cf travel of the bars 5,5 are independent and also that 7 the upper limits of the two bars are independent of each other. The lower limits of the two bars are always the same. These matters being appreciated, it will be seenthat the apparatus disclosed-iswell adapted to drive two splicing carriers in a fully fashioned hose frame, one carrier. finishing its traverse in, each draw before the other carrier starts. I-n such a machine, the. simultaneous adjustment of bothtrack members i and l governs the outer limits oftravel of the two. carriers (such'limitsbeing coincident with, the selvedges of the fabric) and the adjustment. 1 of track members 2, 2% governs the inner limitsof travel of the two carriers. 7 7 f H I r In order to connect the variably. driven bars 5, 5 to'their respective carriers chains 30, 3il

are fixed to their. upper and lower ends, the chains and 33 carried by brackets l4, M at-their'outer ends and by brackets 3 3.35 at their opposite end. 7 The inner ends of shafts 33, 33 respectively carry pinions 3'6, .ifi meshing eachwith one of two slidouter ends, and also prevented from moving lateri ally,by end plates 13. Each screw carries .at its outercnd, askew gear 25, 2!, 20 or 21 and a dividing platezl. .;Meshi,ng with theseskewgears are further skew gears, '23, 24, 23 24 slidably mounted on splined shafts 25, 26 and 25 andheld in register with the first-mentioned gears by I i brackets ZlLand 23; The splined shafts are sup-.

ported at their outer ends by stationary auxiliary brackets 29 and 29 and at their inner ends by .lugs provided on brackets 14, HP. The operating means for these-shafts will be dealt with in detail later. 7

It,wi1l bers. 2 and 2 are adjusted simultaneously by shaft 25, while the twocams {and l are'adjustbe appreciated thatlthe two track memable independently of one another and of track Furthermore, since the gears 23, 23 24, z lljare slidablehalong the shafts, this adjustment. may be carried out irrespective of the. reciprocation of theslipper J5.

'Mounted at theirear of the foregoing mecha-l .nism are'twpyertical sli'dingbars 5. and 5 which operate in suitable bearings formed in brackets L4, (4}... These bars 5, 5?. carry the respective followered, Alwhich slide in the tracks formed by i track members 2 .and i '2 ,Referring particularlyto Fig. 2. andassumingthat the slipper l5.is travellingi'romleft to right, it will be seen that followerdistravelling up the inclinebetween trackmembers l and 2 and therefore, imparting an upward vertical motion to the bar' 5 while ably mounted'racks 13 i, 3l These racks carry brackets 38, 38 which inturnsupport pivoted carrier driving fingers 39, SEPf-Qr connecting with 7 the carrier rodsm), 49 by means oflugs'el, el Thus the variable. stroke imparted ,to. bars 5, 51

is converted to arctary motion in shafts 33, 53 7 and then to the horizontally reciprocating motion 7 of varying amplitude of the carrierrods All, 146

When the. splicing or plating is commenced, just above the heel ofthe stocking, it is necessary for one of the. carriers to'come' into operation one course prior to theother and to efiect this, each I .of the carrierdrivingfingers 39,39 is pivoted so that it. can be swung upwards out of action by means of a stud t2 on automatic control shaft 43. I s V V 2, 9 and 10 show three alternative lm odes haratei draw mechanism, comprising the-known draw cam 44,- reciprocatingdraw bar @5, drawf lever 46 pivoted onfbracket A! and connectedto the draw bar by means of a cross head at it. In.

orderthat the plating mechanism e. slipper liand associated'parts); shallnot be continually in operation while making the welt and leg of the stocking when it is not required, the connection between draw lever 45 and slipper i5 takes the form ofa detachable link' 49 which 'can'be lifted out of engagement with driving pin 153. asxand when requiredby means of studs 51 on the aforementioned automatic control shaft 43.

flThe timing of this draw cam would be of the slur cock draw by the amount necessaryto provide the normal carrier lead and this must be cut down by about half to give the correct plating lead. This can most readily be accomplished by widening the slotted end of link 49 as shown at 43a. Thus at each reversal of the draw mechanism'the pin 50 moves from One-end of slot 49a to theother, thereby allowing the plating carriers to lag behind the main carriers.

A further possible mode of controlling the slipper I5 is shown in Figs. and 11 where the drive-is taken from the slur cock draw (not shown)- by means of a connecting bar 53. Were thisbar 53 connected directly to link 49 it is obvious that the plating carriers would run above the slur cock-instead of in advance of it and therefore, the. following mechanism is interposed between bar 53 and link'49. The driving bar 53 carries a bracket 54 which in turn supports a shaft 55 on which a pinion 56, and an eccentric 57 coupled to it, are journaled. The bracket 54 also supports'a short horizontal rack 58 meshing with pinion 56, the rack being held insuch 'a' position that it can cooperate with the fixed stops 59 and 60 at either end of the travel of connecting bar 53. The link 49 is mounted on eccentric 5'! and thus at each end of the draw the rack 58 engages stop 59 or 60 and is shogged in the bracket 54; in so doing it rotates pinion 56 and eccentric 51, thereby advancing link 49 in relation to connecting bar 53.

It now remains to describe the mechanism for racking the lead screws l0, ll, I0 Il this mechanism is shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Track members I and l are controlled by lead screws H) and I B and are operated in conjunction with the graduated splicing stop screws already existing on the machine. These latter are racked independently and in either direction under controlling influence of a pattern chain 6|. Since the screws Ill and I 0 must follow the graduated splicing stop screws it becomes necessary to adapt the same pattern chain 6| to the control of these screws as shown in Figs. 5, '7 and 8.

Since the mechanism for racking the two lead screws H3, H1 is identical, only that for racking one screw 10 through the medium of its splined shaft is shown in Fig. 5. Certain portions of the mechanism for the other lead screw 25 are shown. in Figs. 2 and 5 and are given primed reference numbers. The racking is carried out by lever 62 carrying pawls 63 and 64, for forward and back racking respectively, operating on rack wheels 65 and 6. The lever 62 is operated by cam 61 on main cam shaft 68 by means of a shogging truck 69 controlled by fork, 10, rod H, bell crank lever 12, link 13, and a further bell crank 14. The two pawls 63, 64 are controlled by a blufi plate .5 which determines whether the pawls should both be held out of action (i. e. a neutral position) or whether one or the other shall rack. Blufi 15 is operated from the pattern chain 61 by means of a stud lever [6, bell crank lever I1 and link 18. Thus if a low stud is fastened to chain 6 I, the blufi" 15 takes up. a neutral position, if the Stud is removed the pawl 66 will drop'into action while a high stud will allow pawl 64 to operate.

The truck '69 is shogged into register with cam 61,-each time a selecting stud operates stud lever 16 or 16 by means of bell crank lever 74 which extendsacross both stud levers.

In Fig. 5'the commencement of the corresponding mechanism for lead screw 10 is shown at .16 11 18 while in Fig. 2 are shown the termirial portions of said corresponding mechanism consisting of rack wheels 66 on shaft 25 pawls 63 64 ;blu'ff 75 and pawl operating lever 62 The lead screws ll and 1 l are operated in conjunction with the selvedge stop screw and do not have to operate independently of each other; therefore. only one racking mechanism is required. This is'shown in detail in Fig. 6. Racking. arm 75 is operatedby cam 86 on main cam shaft'681by means or shogging truck 8| and fork '82 on control rod 83. This control rod 83 is the existing rod which normally operates the shogging truck on theselvedge stop screw rack lever. The lever 19 carries at its outer end pawls 84 and 85 operating on rack wheels 86 and 8'! and controlled bybluif plate 88. Bluff 88 is in turn operated by studs 89 on the automatic control 'shaft43. The splined shaft 26 which controls lead screws H and H is also provided with a hand racking device consisting of mitre wheels "96, 9| shaft Si-and handle 93, Fig. 2. This is used for re-set-ting the screws at the end of each cycle of operations. A similar device is not necessary for lead screws l0 and I0 as these are automatically returned to their starting positions by suitably setting out pattern chain 6|.

We claim:

1. For a Cottons Patent or other straight bar knitting machine, mechanism for converting a given linear displacement in one direction into a variable linear displacement in another direction, comprising a converter consisting of track members conjointly defining a track having two oifset end parts and an oblique or inclined middle part joinin them, which track members are relatively adjustable to vary the oifset between the two end parts, and a follower for engaging said track, whereby relative movement between said follower and converter causing the follower to pass from one end part to the other produces a relative displacement in a transverse direction the. amplitude of which is determined by said adjustment.

2. Mechanism according toclaim 1, being carrier driving mechanism.

3. Mechanism according to claim 1, having the converter reciprocatable.

4. Mechanism according to claim 1, having a driven member movable to and fro, and rack and pinion mechanism for driving it from the follower.

5. In a straight bar knitting machine having two carriers, mechanism for driving them independently comprising for each carrier a converter consisting of track members conjointly defining a track having two offset end parts and an oblique or inclined middle part joining them, which track members are relatively adjustable to vary the ofiset between the two end parts, and a follower for engaging said track, whereby relative movement between said follower and converter causing the follower to pass from one end part to the other produces a relative displacement in a transverse direction the amplitude of which is determined by said adjustment, and means for two converters so disposed that the twofollowers operate one after the other.

8. A machine according to claimv 5,- having means for reciprocating the-pair of converters in unison, and having the two converters so disposed that, at the end of relative movement in eitherv direction, one follower is in one offset part of its track and the other follower is in the opposite offset part of its respective track, and having the two tracksoppositelyarranged.

9.11m a straight bar knitting machine having two carriers; mechanism for'driving them independently comprising for each carrier a converter consisting of track members conjointly defining a track having two offset end parts and an oblique or inclined middle part joining them, which track 'members are relatively'adjustable 'to vary the ofiset between the two end parts,

and a follower for engaging said tracln rwhereby relative movement between said follower and converter causing the follower to pass from one end partto the other produces a relative displacement ina transverse direction the amplitudeof which is determined by said adjustment, means for connecting the followers to the respective carriers, means mountingsaid converters with the two tracks oppositely disposed,'means for re- 7 ciprocating the two converters injunison with a relative disposition such that, at the end of relative movement in either direction, 'one follower is in one offset part of its track and the other 101- lower is in the opposite ofiset part of its respective track, and means for adjusting like track members of the two converters in'unison. V

10. In a straight bar knitting machine having a reciprocatable slur cock, carrier driving mechanism comprising a converter consisting of opposed track members defining between them two ofi set and parallel track ends and an inclined middle part joining them, adjusting means" for adjusting at least one track member lengthwise of said inclined part to varythe length thereof and to vary the offset between the two ends; a follower engaging in said track and movable thereby, upon relative reciprocation between converter and follower lengthwise of said ends, in a transverse ,di-

rection, means for couplingthe follower to a carrier to drive the latter to and fro with azvariable amplitude of traverse, and means for effecting said reciprocation with a lead over the slur cock.v 7

JOHN EDWARD-LYNAM. 1 PATRICK GIDEO-N. McCARTHY.

REFERENCES CITED; 7

The following references are of record in the file of this patenti j V V V UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 

